The divorce stats are in

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), “in 2020, there were 103,592 divorces granted in England and Wales, a decrease of 4.5% compared with 2019”. This number is broken down further to account for 102,438 opposite-sex divorces and 1,154 same-sex divorces.

The report cited unreasonable behaviour as the most common reason for women in opposite-sex couples in 2020, accounting for almost 50% (47.4% to be exact) of petitions. 

Whereas for husbands, it was the two-year separation factor, accounting for 34.7% of divorces, followed closely by 33.8% for unreasonable behaviour. For same-sex divorces, unreasonable behaviour was the most common reason for both male and female couples. 

There are many reasons why unreasonable behaviour is still the most common factor such as:

• A spouse is not accepting that the marriage has broken down and is likely to delay matters.
• Adultery does not apply or cannot be proved.
• You have not been separated for a minimum period of 2 years. 

Looking at the decrease of divorces in comparison to 2019, it should be borne in mind that the Family Courts and our Judiciary were heavily impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic during 2020. Not as many divorces were granted (albeit I say this from a personal observation). 

Divorces being issued are also not the same as divorces being granted. It is normally at the Decree Nisi stage that the Court is satisfied that the petitioner is entitled to a divorce, and only at Decree Absolute is the divorce granted. 

I note from the ONS website that there was an increase in same-sex divorces relying on unreasonable behaviour. Whilst this could simply be an increase in divorces, it could also be that unreasonable behaviour was the only factor they could rely on. “Adultery” is not legally applicable in the circumstances and at least 2 years have not passed since separation.

It is interesting to read that unreasonable behaviour is the common factor for a divorce. However, it will be even more interesting to see how the no fault divorce petition takes off when it is implemented (hopefully) in Spring this year. 

No fault divorce may even speed up the process. No doubt we will see that reflected in the next lot of divorce statistics. If you wish to read the full report, you can do so on Divorces in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk). 

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